An ice crystal model for jupiter's moon Europa

A simple model for crystal growth in the ice shell of Europa has been made in order to estimate the size of ice crystals at Europa's surface. If mass is lost from the surface of Europa due to sputtering processes, and the ice thickness is constant in time, ice crystals will be transported upwar...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Glaciology
Main Authors: Dahl-Jensen, Dorthe, schmidt, Karen Guldbae
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://curis.ku.dk/portal/da/publications/an-ice-crystal-model-for-jupiters-moon-europa(4763d370-ed3f-11dd-bf70-000ea68e967b).html
https://doi.org/10.3189/172756403781815735
Description
Summary:A simple model for crystal growth in the ice shell of Europa has been made in order to estimate the size of ice crystals at Europa's surface. If mass is lost from the surface of Europa due to sputtering processes, and the ice thickness is constant in time, ice crystals will be transported upwards in the ice shell. The crystals will therefore grow under varying conditions through the shell.The model predicts that ice crystals are 4 cm-80 m across at the surface. For the preferred parameter values, a crystal size of the order of 7 m is calculated. Udgivelsesdato: 1 june